I only have time for a quick summary. :) He says that he was so shell-shocked after 9/11 (he was pretty close when the attack happened, so close he could hear the first impact) he couldn't write music for weeks but started again when he faced a dealine and heart a young man playing 'Yesterday' at central park. He used to dislike when people said his music had healing powers (like Engery Flow) but then he understood what they meant.

He also tells how he turned his life around at the age of 40 with the help of a Yoga-guru. He used to drink, do drugs, stay up all night and when he was drinking with a good friend she wanted to read his hand and said he was going to die very soon. She introduced him to the guru and now he is living a much healther lifestyle.

And many thanks to trampadoo for summarizing the interview - I don't have the time nor the language proficiency to translate the whole thing, but google translator isn't so bad I would say ;-)

I liked this part: 'As a young man I had extremely ambivalent feelings about my country. Japan switched from fascism to democracy overnight. That did not come organically from within, it came from outside, from the Americans. I hated everything Japanese then. But as I got older I realized to my own surprise that I do love my country, after all. Especially since Fukushima I want to do everything I can and in my power to help the people and the country.'

I was shocked when I read for the first time somewhere that RS hated all Japanese... I just had forgotten how I hated everything Russian in my early years :) Now, to my surprise (haha) I realize that... and so on :))))Thank you, grinning_soul77, excellent English!Ryuichi now started to think of returning back to Japan.

It's not that I'm particularly fond of everything German - on the contrary! Especially after returning from Japan I have the impression that we are so uncivilized in comparison: less clean, less polite, less aesthetic, terrible eating habits and so on... :-( Good to hear that Ryuichi thinks of returning back to Japan! Where did you get this from?

PS: I've almost finished the inspiring 'Visions of the void' by Marguerite Yourcenar and ordered all four novels of 'The sea of fertility' today - can't wait to start reading ;-)